Spinning Compass

“Allow things to flow naturally,
And evil will have no power.
That is not to say that evil loses its power…
Better, perhaps, to say that evil itself is lost.
Without a “good” to point away from,
Evil’s compass spins aimlessly.
And so, the sage leaves things to be what they are,
Leaving evil unharmed,
And in turn being unharmed by evil.
The spinning compass
Becomes a cycle of natural virtue”.*

~ Lao Tzu

Could it be so that our resistance to what we perceive as “evil” is what is feeding the distressing spinning compass we find ourselves living?

About Val Boyko

Val Boyko is originally from Scotland and came to the United States over 25 years ago.
At "Find Your Middle Ground" Val brings together her experience as a life coach, yoga teacher and mentor, to inspire awakening to the light and inspiration within us all.
This blog is a place of exploration and discovery as we all explore finding harmony and peace, in the highs and lows of life 💛

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32 thoughts on “Spinning Compass”

Good point, Val.
It is possible to leave evil in many different ways. One could be by forgiveness and by that take away the power, as the evil have had. Forgiveness for own good, not for the evils.
While we don’t feed the evil, the evil will get less and less power.
Namaste ❤

Yes Irene, finding a way to forgive and let go reduces the energy we give to “evil”.
It reminds me of a cue I give in yoga class. “Where our attention goes, the energy flows”. The more we focus on the negative, the more it will be drawn to our attention and the more we feed it.
Thank you for this thoughtful comment 💛

Gently coax awareness to what matters. Let go of the peripheries. It Seems easy, yet our mind gets distracted and tries to deal with everything. We women are so good at this, but there is only so much we can take in the bombardment of technological stimuli. xo

This is such a challenging concept. Yet to hold and not hold it is the duality we must contain and release to be able to allow things to flow naturally.
I love what you wrote in your comment to Irene about your cue in yoga class — ” “Where our attention goes, the energy flows”. The more we focus on the negative, the more it will be drawn to our attention and the more we feed it.”

I think most of us find this challenging to get our mind around. FIghting against “evil” is so ingrained in us. Its what our ego is programmed to do, and the ego mind will have a hard time letting this thinking go.
Thanks Louise 💕

When we focus into the center instead of the external extremities … it is so.
Thank you Helen for this perspective. 💛
Another one that comes to mind is to let go completely of the dualistic thinking of good and evil. Then no compass is needed. xo

I love Lao Tzu because he frequently turns my thinking on its head. This is a tough one, Val. It reminds me of another you posted – we become what we resist (or something to that effect). More to contemplate. ❤

“What we resist, persists” come from Carl Jung. It is in the same vain … and not easy to get our heads around, ( perhaps because our heads are dominated by ego) Listen to what your inner wisdom tells you 💕

Thank you Diana, I’m interpreting your thoughts here, and may be off center. I read “evil” in your words as injustice or acts of depravity or violence. When we stand against it, we are standing up for some thing else. The focus must be on what we stand FOR and not against.
Its like #MeToo that is on Facebook right now. The focus is passive. Its about victims coming together, rather than what we as women stand for and what we want to bring about.
Hopefully that will shift to:
Teach our sons. Teach our men. Be the change.
xo

This is something to contemplate, thank you. Gnashing our teeth endlessly in the face of evil feeds it, like a fire. If instead we simply turn and face the sun, the evil will shrivel. Our attention creates reality…. Interesting thought!